TimeShift
TimeShift for Linux is an application that provides functionality similar to the System Restore feature in Windows and Time Machine tool in Mac OS. TimeShift protects your system by taking incremental snapshots of file system at regular intervals.
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Features
Properties
- Lightweight
- Privacy focused
Features
- Incremental Backup
- Support for BTRFS
- Ad-free
- Schedule Backup
- Works Offline
- Differential Backup
- No registration required
- No Tracking
- Dark Mode
- Automatic Backup
TimeShift News & Activities
Recent News
Recent activities
- ddnn rated TimeShift
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What is TimeShift?
TimeShift for Linux is an application that provides functionality similar to the System Restore feature in Windows and the Time Machine tool in Mac OS. TimeShift protects your system by taking incremental snapshots of the file system at regular intervals. These snapshots can be restored at a later date to undo all changes to the system.
Snapshots are taken using rsync and hard-links. Common files are shared between snapshots which saves disk space. Each snapshot is a full system backup that can be browsed with a file manager.
TimeShift is similar to applications like rsnapshot, BackInTime and TimeVault but with different goals. It is designed to protect only system files and settings. User files such as documents, pictures and music are excluded. This ensures that your files remains unchanged when you restore your system to an earlier date. If you need a tool to backup your documents and files please take a look at the excellent BackInTime application which is more configurable and provides options for saving user files.
TimeShift information
Developed by
Linux Mint Licensing
Open Source and Free product.Rating
Average rating of 4.8Alternatives
31 alternatives listedSupported Languages
- English
AlternativeTo Category
Backup & SyncGitHub repository
- 3,678 Stars
- 129 Forks
- 312 Open Issues
- Updated
Comments and Reviews
What a great program. Now you can tinker with your Linux installation to your heart's content without any serious consequences. No meddling with virtual OS'es for the same reason needed. If that's not cool I don't know what is.
Extremely easy to use and keep function backups. The backups themselves are incremental, meaning they're very light. Helpful for maintaining a working linux system and when all goes wrong it can be used to restore the entire boot drive.
I really like this tool to add layers of protection to my Linux Mint, which makes me more prepared in cases of error of my OS, helping me to recover it and avoiding my loss of files!
An excellent backup tool, and probably one of the simplest for Linux I've ever used.
I really wish you could save to a network location though, or select a different location than "/timeshift."
Easy system backups for noobs and other humans
TimeShift is a lifesaver. I discovered a new bug that killed major part of my connectivity. Nothing worked. Used Timeshift and was running again within 10-15 minutes. It does not backup your home files by default, not meant to replace backups. This could be the thing that saves you an entire day of work trying to fix something vs. being fixed in few minutes.
I have this application installed on my Linux Mint computer. I've used it at least 15 times so far, and it works very well. If I am not mistaken, it uses RSYNC as the backend, although BTRFS is also possible.
I set up Timeshift to automatically back up most of my files on the root partition, excluding a few like /dev, /proc, and others that I can't recall right now. Timeshift will take a snapshot of certain folders so that you can go back to it when needed. Since most programs I install end up in /bin, /etc, /opt, or /usr, by backing this up, I am able to revert these folders to a previous state. That way, if some upgrade of a package goes horribly wrong, fixing it is easy.
You can also set a schedule for Timeshift to back up your folders at certain intervals. For me, I back up every week and keep a list of the last 4 backups before automatically deleting the oldest one.